Wirelessly transferring data to a packaged electronic device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device has first and second circuitry. A wireless trigger signal at the first circuitry causes the second circuitry to power up to receive a second wireless signal. The second signal is according to a radio access technology for which the trigger signal is incompatible. In various embodiments the first circuitry (a low power receiver) may autonomously power up upon expiration of a timer. One or more security checks can be performed at various steps, each step conditional on passing the previous security check. The first circuitry operates at a lower power than the second circuitry which comprises a broadband radio. For example, the first circuitry might be a Bluetooth low energy receiver, and a trigger signal there causes a WLAN receiver to power up in order to download software/firmware updates or user content while the device is enroute between the manufacturer and end user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/553,599, filed on Oct. 31, 2011, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.This is a reissue patentapplication of U.S. Pat. No. 9,369,959, application Ser. No. 13/486,460filed Jun. 1, 2012, which claims priority from U.S. provisionalapplication No. 61/553,599, filed on Oct. 31, 2011, all of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of this invention relategenerally to wireless communication systems, methods, devices andcomputer programs and, more specifically, relate to wireless flashing ofelectronic devices and to wireless transfer of software and content tothe device even prior to retail sale of the device while it is stillpackaged.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to provide a background or context to theinvention that is recited in the claims. The description herein mayinclude concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily onesthat have been previously conceived, implemented or described.Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in thissection is not prior art to the description and claims in thisapplication and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in thissection.

Typically, after a new or existing electronic device enters the marketvarious changes to the firmware of those devices may be required (e.g.fixing bugs or adding features to the device). Similarly, enhancementsin software residing on the device may become available or new softwaremay need to be deployed on the device. Currently, electronic devicemanufacturer's ability to provide expedient and secure firmware and/orsoftware and/or pre-installed content updates to electronic devices inthe supply chain is limited. The traditional method of accessing memoryafter an electronic device is inserted into sale packaging is to removethe device from the packaging, connect cables to the device and entervarious commands to an attached PC to direct flashing of the device'smemory or to install new software. This process becomes expensive, timeconsuming and complicated after the electronic device has been insertedinto sale packaging and becomes stored in bulk (e.g. stored in multipleboxes on multiple pallets). An alternative method of accessing thememory of a device after it is inserted into sale packaging involvesso-called active packaging. Active packaging is traditional sale packingwhich includes electronic circuitry disposed on the box or plasticwrapping (and internally connected to the electronic device) as well aswireless communication components to avoid unpacking the device after itships from the factory. This method is expensive, cumbersome (e.g. someembodiments actually require specialized shelving to provide power toeach electronic device) and adds additional complexity to the supplychain (e.g. packaging needs to be separately inventoried, tracked, andreturned/recycled after sale of device). Other methods involve employingactive RF-ID devices which activate electronic devices by powertransmitted by an interrogator. These methods are impractical forflashing due to their poor power retention/conservation problems.Moreover, none of the traditional methods provide for high speedwireless firmware/software updates.

SUMMARY

The foregoing and other problems are overcome, and other advantages arerealized, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is providedcomprising: in response to wirelessly receiving a trigger signal atfirst circuitry of an electronic device, powering up at least secondcircuitry of the electronic device; and wirelessly receiving a secondsignal at the powered up second circuitry. In this case the secondsignal is according to a radio access technology for which the triggersignal is incompatible.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus isprovided including a processor and a memory including computer programcode. The memory and computer program code are configured with theprocessor to cause the apparatus at least to perform: in response towirelessly receiving a trigger signal at first circuitry of theapparatus, powering up at least second circuitry of the apparatus; andwirelessly receiving a second signal at the powered up second circuitry.In this case also the second signal is according to a radio accesstechnology for which the trigger signal is incompatible.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storing software program instructions, whichwhen executed by at least one data processor results in performance ofoperations that comprise: in response to wirelessly receiving a triggersignal at first circuitry of an electronic device, powering up at leastsecond circuitry of the electronic device; and wirelessly receiving asecond signal at the powered up second circuitry. Again in this aspectthe second signal is according to a radio access technology for whichthe trigger signal is incompatible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of the exemplary embodiments of thisinvention are made more evident in the following Detailed Description,when read in conjunction with the attached Drawing Figures.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an electronic device contained within salepackaging according to one exemplary embodiment of these teachings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless flashing initiatorconfigured to flash at least one or more electronic devices and todirect firmware/software/content updates of those devices, according toone exemplary embodiment of these teachings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device configuredto include BT LE functionality, a regulator, and switch to receive awireless flashing event and a WLAN to receive firmware/software updates,in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 4 is a cloud diagram illustrating a communication network, inaccordance with the exemplary embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a system, method and a result of executionof computer program instructions for transmitting a wireless flashingevent to at least one or more electronic devices and to direct thetransfer of firmware/software/content updates on at least one or moredevices, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a system, method and a result of executionof computer program instructions for sideloading an electronic device todirect the transfer of firmware/software/content updates to the device,in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram that illustrates the operation of amethod, and a result of execution of computer program instructions toreceive a flashing event and receive firmware and/or software and/orcontent updates, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device moduleconfigured to include a power management chip, a BT LE chip and switchto receive wireless flashing and a WLAN to receivefirmware/software/content updates, in accordance with the exemplaryembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device configuredto include a BT LE chip, a power management chip and switch to receivewireless flashing and a BT chip to receiving firmware/software/contentupdates, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device configuredto include a second microcontroller, a regulator, a second memory, aswitch and an acoustic modem to receive wireless flashing and a BT chipto receive firmware/software/content updates, in accordance with theexemplary embodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 11 is a logic flow diagram that illustrates the operation of amethod, and a result of execution of computer program instructions toreceive a flashing event and receive firmware and/or software and/orcontent updates, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment ofthese teachings.

FIG. 12A is a logic flow diagram that illustrates a method step oroperational sub-process to execute high level security with respect tothe operation of a method, and a result of execution of computer programinstructions, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of theseteachings.

FIG. 12B is a logic flow diagram that illustrates a method step oroperational sub-process to retrieve hardware and system information withrespect to the operation of a method, and a result of execution ofcomputer program instructions, in accordance with another exemplaryembodiment of these teachings.

FIG. 12C is a logic flow diagram that illustrates a method step oroperational sub-process to receive WLAN and network setting with respectto the operation of a method, and a result of execution of computerprogram instructions, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment ofthese teachings.

FIG. 12D is a logic flow diagram that illustrates a method step oroperational sub-process to turn on a WLAN with respect to the operationof a method, and a result of execution of computer program instructions,in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of these teachings.

FIG. 13A is a timing diagram of an advertising event illustrating aconnectable undirected advertising event type according to the priorart.

FIG. 13B is a timing diagram of an advertising event illustrating aconnectable directed advertising event type according to the prior art.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device configuredto include near field communication functionality to receive a wirelessflashing from a near field interrogator and to receive firmware/softwareupdates (or content) via a WLAN, in accordance with the exemplaryembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 3configured to include a wireless charging system for receiving a remoteenergy charge from a wireless charger, in accordance with the exemplaryembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 16 is an illustration of a system of wirelessly charging anelectronic device while simultaneously deploying a wireless flashingevent by a wireless flashing initiator, in accordance with the exemplaryembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 17 is a process flow diagram summarizing certain of the exemplaryembodiments of these teachings.

FIG. 18 is similar to FIG. 17 but illustrating two different wake-upmethods in parallel before a software/firmware/data download can beenabled for the host electronic device, according to an exemplaryembodiment of these teachings.

FIGS. 19A-E each illustrates a different variation on the process flowdiagram of FIG. 18, according to further exemplary embodiments of theseteachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Based on the foregoing it should be apparent that the exemplaryembodiments of this invention provides a method, apparatus and computerprogram(s) to wirelessly flash electronic devices as well as wirelesslytransfer software and content to the device which minimizes powerconsumption and provides expedited wireless data transfer to the device.

Wireless flashing (or “wireless flashing event”) (or “wireless flashingtrigger”) refers to an interaction between one or more electronicdevices which includes the following non-limiting options according toone or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention: (1) datatransfer and installation of software or firmware updates; (2) datatransfer only; (3) installation of software or firmware updates only;(4) data removal; (5) configuration changes; and (6) remote booting.Each of the above wireless flashing options can be employed based uponthe hardware, memory or power limitations of the electronic devicesinvolved in a flashing event. For example, the data transfer only optionis employed when the battery power of the electronic device is limitedor the data to be transferred is media (e.g. ring tones or othercontent). Else, if the battery power of the electronic device is notlimited and the data to be transferred is software or firmware updates,the first option is employed. Alternatively, if the software is alreadyin device memory, wireless flashing would trigger the installation ofthe software or firmware updates. Also, as will be explained below, oneor more exemplary embodiments of these teachings allow wireless accessto an electronic device while in sales packaging. Accordingly, dataremoval may be employed at latter stages of supply chain operations tofree up device memory. Moreover, a flashing event can be employed tochange configuration settings to allow the electronic device toadvertise its location while in a warehouse (then subsequentlyreconfigured to turn off advertising in transit to retail stores). Also,in retail operations the sales clerk can wireless flash (remote boot)the device to turn it on prior to the consumer opening the sale packing.

Other flashing events can include wirelessly querying (or instructing)one or more electronic devices to provide information. For example,electronic devices can be queried to provide its specific identityinformation (e.g. international mobile equipment identity/IMEI or mediumaccess control/MAC address or other identifier), which in turn willallow a manufacturing, warehouse, transport, or retail facility towirelessly inventory electronic devices without opening sales boxes orremoving those from pallets. Certain authorities (e.g. customsofficials) could also be provided with master keys to wirelessly flashelectronic devices at ports of entry. In response to a wireless flashingevent, the device could be prompted to provide an electronic identifier(ID) which would reveal the country of origin of the device so thatcounterfeit goods can be identified. Another example of a queryingflashing event could include a request to provide information about theenergy level of a device's portable power source such as the battery. Inthis example of a querying flashing event, a device could be instructedto provide information on its location which could be determined using aglobal positioning system (GPS), Galileo, or some other positioningsystem (including also indoor positioning systems).

As mentioned above, the present invention in some exemplary embodimentsallows wireless access to the memory of at least one or more electronicdevices throughout supply chain operations. Supply chain operations asused throughout this disclosure is defined as the planning andmanagement of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement,conversion, and all logistics management activities related to theintroduction of an electronic device into the market and interactionwith consumers post-sale. There are at least five stages of operation upand down stream in supply chain operations in which the presentinvention can be employed: factory operations, distribution operations,retail operations, consumer operations and aftercare operations.

There are numerous advantages of the exemplary embodiments allowingwireless access to the memory of electronic devices throughout supplychain operations. For example, in the factory, according to oneexemplary embodiment, the ability according to these teachings towirelessly flash an electronic device allows newly assembled electronicdevices to advance to a packaging/shipping stage more quickly (e.g.inserting the final electronic device into sale packaging andpalletizing in bulk). In other words, electronic device manufacturersget their product to market faster as they do not need to wait toreceive a finalized firmware or software to leave the factory floor andenter the warehouse. Instead, firmware and/or software updates can takeplace in a warehouse or during distribution as described below accordingto a method, and/or result of execution of computer programinstructions, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings. Moreover, embodiments of these teachings eliminate the needto unpack each device from their final shipping and retail salepackaging when a mistake is found in the electronic device's software orwhen it is desired to update the software to include a new feature.Hence, there is no need to physically touch the electronic devices afterthey are inserted into their retail sale packaging (e.g. flash eachindividual device's memory or install software updates).

Another example of an exemplary embodiment allowing wireless access tothe memory of electronic devices in supply chain operations is duringretail operations. For example, a retail sales clerk can not onlyremotely flash the memory to provide firmware updates but can alsoinstall personalized software based upon their interaction with thepurchasing consumer.

Yet another example of an exemplary embodiment allowing wireless accessto the memory of electronic devices in supply chain operations is inso-called consumer operations. After the consumer purchases theelectronic device they can sideload the device and provide softwareupdates through their own personal computer and a WLAN. Similarly, inaftercare operations, service departments affiliated with the electronicdevice manufacturer can provide software updates.

A description of the apparatuses which may be used to embody theseteachings shall now be provided with the above described supply chainoperation as one possible implementation. A detailed description of theoperation of method and computer program shall follow the description ofthe apparatus.

Referring now to FIG. 1, sale packing 1 is shown containing anelectronic device 2 and a bar code tag 3 adhered to the packaging. Inretail operations, at the point of sale a clerk seeking to update thefirmware and/or software first exposes the bar code tag 103 to a barcodereader (not shown) which is connected to a computer and/or a computernetwork (not shown). The bar code tag 3 may be of various code tag typesknown in the industry such as linear or one dimensional code or sometwo-dimensional code. Alternatively, instead of a barcode tag (andreader), an alternative embodiment could include various types of radiofrequency ID (RFID) tags and readers (e.g. Electronic Product Code EPC,Near Field Communication NFC, FeliCa or the like). Yet anotherembodiment discussed below could omit the bar code tag (and reader) andwould involve an automated wireless inventory method employing awireless flashing query event. Additionally, the clerk may wish toinstall software or provide additional content to the electronic device(e.g. ring tones).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a schematic of a wireless flashing initiator(WFI) 100 configured to flash at least one or more electronic devicesand to direct firmware/software/content updates of those devices isshown according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.The WFI 100 can either be embodied as a standalone device or embodied insoftware on a personal computer or embodied in a mobile device or anapplication remotely accessed on an over the air (OTA) server. Forexample in one exemplary embodiment, the barcode reader is connected toa communication port 110 of a microcontroller 120 on a standalone deviceor a personal computer. The microcontroller can alternatively be adigital signal processor (DSP) or field programmable gate array (FPGA).The microcontroller 120 derives the electronic device's IMEI and MACaddress by accessing memory 130 contained within the wireless flashinginitiator 100. Memory 130 contains a list of known accessible Bluetoothlow energy (BT LE) devices in a so-called white list 135 as well astheir corresponding barcode number (not shown). Alternatively, themicrocontroller 120 can access a communication network by way of abroadband radio, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) usinga WLAN component 160 to remotely access an over the air servercontaining the above described data hosted by the electronic devicemanufacturer. Other non-limiting alternative ways of accessing acommunication network can be by WCDMA, LTE, LTE-A, WiGig, UWB/60 GHz,UTRAN, GSM, BT LAN, or near-me area network (NAN) (e.g. employing closeproximity communication technologies such as high data-rate extensionsof NFC or RFID etc.).

Once the electronic device's IMEI and MAC address is derived, themicrocontroller, for example, accesses a very low power radio, such as asystem on chip (SoC) BT LE 140 compliant with Part B of the BluetoothSpecification Version 4.0 (“BT LE Link Layer Specification”) Jun. 30,2010. Alternatively, BT LE SoC can be replaced by a very low power radioproviding similar functionality to BT LE. The operation of the BT LE 240shall be clarified in detail in the description below of the operationof the method and computer program(s) to wirelessly flash electronicdevices, as well as wirelessly transfer software and content to theelectronic device. The BT LE 140 transitions its state within its LinkLayer by entering into an advertising state (by accessing a Bluetoothtransceiver 150 or at least a BT receiver) and sends out one or moreadvertising packet data units specific to the electronic device's IMEIand MAC address.

Referring now to FIG. 3, electronic device 2 can in one exemplaryembodiment contain an electronic device module (EDM) 200 which haspreviously been configured to receive the advertising packet data unitdue to the fact that the link layer of the BT LE 210 has beentransitioned into a scanning state prior to being placed into the salepackaging 1. As shown in FIG. 3, BT LE 210 is coupled to a Bluetoothtransceiver 215. BT LE 210 can be a BT LE SoC or a very low power radioproviding similar functionality to BT LE. Upon receiving the advertisingpacket data broadcast by the wireless flashing initiator 100, the EDM BTLE 210 checks its own white list 235 contained within memory 230 todetermine if access is appropriate. After finding a white list recordcontaining the wireless flashing initiator entry, the wireless flashinginitiator 100 and EDM 200 Link Layers transition into a connection statewith the electronic device 200 assuming the master role and the wirelessflashing initiator assuming the slave role. In an alternative embodimentof the present invention the roles of master and slave can be reversed.In particular, the wireless flashing initiator 100 can assume the masterrole and the EDM 200 can assume the slave role whereas the EDM is in theadvertising state and the wireless flashing initiator is in the scanningstate.

As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic device module 200 includes an energyand power management (EPM) chip 290 which provides electrical power tocomponent X 280. Component X 280 represents any hardware (HW) componentof the electronic device module 200 including but not limited to forexample MCU 240 and WLAN 270. The EPM 290 could control power providedto the MCU 240 or WLAN 270. The EPM 290 is shown as a separate chip.However, it may be integrated as a part of MCU 240 or some othercomponent in device 200. The EPM 290 may also be distributed so that itis partially its own circuitry and partially integrated to othercomponents such as MCU 240. EPM chip 290 may provide the direct batteryvoltage V_(bat) coming from battery 220, or it may modify that voltageusing regulators that are changing the voltage, current and/or othercharacteristics of electric current.

EPM chip 290 may also simply switch on and off the electrical power toother components and/or itself. The voltages V₁, V₂ and V₃ in the FIG. 3indicate that various components 280 may use different voltages to powerthemselves. Typical examples of regulators in the prior art are boostregulators that increase the voltage and buck regulators that drop thevoltage. EPM chip 290 may have an input (shown as PowerOnX in FIG. 3)that activates its operation during the booting of device module 200.There are several ways and means to accomplish the booting as is knownfrom the prior art. For example, the EPM chip 290 may start the poweringup sequence when the input PowerOnX is connected to electrical groundvia a power key 265. This is shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively the sequencemay be started by connecting PowerOnX to some certain voltage, such asbattery voltage V_(bat), or use any other kind of electrical signal. EPMchip 290 may be programmable so that it is able to boot the device 200in various ways (e.g. programmable by using the wireless flashinginitiator 100). For example, depending on the conditions, it may provideelectrical power only to some certain components of the device 200 or toall of them.

It is desirable to ensure that the electronic device module 200 hasenough battery energy for the whole duration of the flashing. The EDM BTLE 210 determines the state of charge of the internal battery 220 of theelectronic device module 200. It does this by communicating with aregulator 225 coupled to both the battery 220 and the microcontroller240. An alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 8 discloses an EDM 800which includes a power management (PM) chip 810 instead of a regulatorto provide a wireless flashing event. Alternatively, regulator 225 (asshown in FIG. 3) and/or power management chip 810 can interact with EPMchip 890 to make a determination of the power constraints of the device.If the battery is below a predetermined threshold level of charge theflashing and firmware/software update attempt can be aborted. Thedetermination to abort can be controlled by the EDM 200 or the wirelessflashing initiator 100. The threshold level can vary between devices andgenerally represents a value of charge at which reliable flashing canoccur.

Once it is determined that the EDM 200 has sufficient power to allow thedevice to wake up and receive a firmware and/or software update orcontent, the BT LE 210 turns on the device. As used throughout thisdisclosure the turning on of the electronic device refers to emulatingthe user interface for powering up the device. Such a user interface mayinclude for example, a gesture, a combination of keys pressed, detectionof voltage in the charging connector or battery interface. One possibleembodiment involves emulating the pressing of a power button or bypowering up selected components (e.g. MCU 240, WLAN 270 or Component X280). In one exemplary embodiment of these teachings the BT LE 210powers on the microcontroller 240 to determine the firmware/softwareversion contained in the memory 230 of the EDM 200 and compares thatinformation with a database maintained by the electronic devicemanufacturer. If the EDM 200 is in need of a firmware or software updatea request for information is received from the wireless flashinginitiator BT LE 140 regarding the EDM WLAN capabilities.

If the EDM 200 has a WLAN component 270 and suitable transceiver 275then the wireless flashing initiator BT LE 140 sends relevant settingsdata to the EDM 200 such as the name of a secure communication network,the service set identifier (SSID) of the access point, securitysettings, security keys and key indexes. Alternatively, EDM 200 could beequipped with a broadband radio configured to allow access to any of thefollowing non-limiting examples of communication networks, WCDMA, LTE,LTE-A, WiGig, UWB/60 GHz, UTRAN, GSM, BT LAN, near-me area network (NAN)(e.g. employing close proximity communication technologies such as highdata-rate extension of NFC or RFID etc.) or any other network capable ofsupporting file transfer at the needed bit rate. Additional informationcan be sent to the EDM 200 to allow access to the electronic devicemanufacturer's server or an affiliated party to provide firmware and/orsoftware updated via a predetermined WLAN. Such information may includethe name of an over the air server, server port, address, username andpassword to authenticate to that server. After the software update iscompleted the BT LE 210 powers down the EDM 200 and the white list 235can be erased, modified or updated. Alternatively, the MCU 240 can powerdown the EDM 200.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a cloud diagram illustrating a communicationnetwork, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this inventionis shown. The communication network 400 can be, as a non-limitingexamples, a WLAN, WCDMA, LTE, LTE-A, WiGig, UWB/60 GHz, UTRAN, GSM, BTLAN, near-me area network (NAN) (e.g. employing close proximitycommunication technologies such as high data-rate extension of NFC orRFID etc.) or any other network capable of supporting file transfer atthe needed bit rates. Server 410 can be an over the air servermaintained by the electronic device manufacturer or an affiliated partyauthorized to provide firmware or software updates, and can beaccessible to at least one of the above described communication networksvia an access point 420. An alternative embodiment could integratephysically the WFI and access point 420 into the same device (notshown).

In FIG. 5 a system, method and a result of execution of computer programinstructions for transmitting a wireless flashing event to at least oneor more electronic devices and to direct the transfer offirmware/software update on at least one or more devices is illustrated,in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this invention. As shownin that system, a wireless flashing initiator 100 sends out a flashingevent 155 directed at one or more electronic devices contained withinsale packing 1n and targeted at a specific target electronic device 1g.The one or more electronic devices 1n could be in a retail store ondisplay or in boxes on pallets in a delivery truck en route to the storeor in a warehouse. After target electronic device 1g receives anadvertisement packet data from the wireless flashing initiator 100, itchecks its white list 235 for a white list record containing wirelessflashing initiator 100 information and sends a response 216 to achieve atransition of both BT LE Link Layers of the wireless flashing initiator100 and target electronic device 1g to a connection state. Thereafter,as will be described shortly a method and execution of computer programinstructions operate to cause the flashing of the target electronicdevice 1g (wake up) and to direct the transfer of a software/firmwareupdate via communication network 400. An alternative embodiment couldomit communication network 400 and instead utilize WiFi/WLAN directly.As such the function of computer 610 and access point 420 would beintegrated.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a system, method and a result of execution ofcomputer program instructions for sideloading an electronic device todirect the transfer of software/firmware update or content to the device600 is shown, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of thisinvention. The source of the direct transfer can be a personal computeror similar device with sufficient data storage and radio resources withaccess to a hard drive resident on the PC, a CD/DVD, detachable storage(USB key, SD, MMC or similar storage devices) or an over the air server.In FIG. 6, a personal computer 610 acts as an initiator and is utilizedby a consumer to send out a flashing event 155 to their purchasedelectronic device 2a. Alternatively, sideloading can be utilized by anindividual representing a manufacturer, an operator, a carrier,logistical support personnel, distributors, transportation specialistsor retailers. The purchased electronic device 2a responds by checkingits white list for a white list record containing personal computer 610information and sends a response 216 to achieve a transition of both BTLE Link Layers to a connection state. Thereafter, as will be describedshortly, a method and execution of computer program instructions operateto cause the flashing of the target electronic device 2a (wake up) andto direct the transfer of software/firmware update via communicationnetwork 400.

A method and execution of computer program instructions which operatesto cause the flashing of (at least) one or more electronic devices andto direct the transfer of firmware/software update to those devices 700is described below with reference to FIG. 7. In at least one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the EDM 200 includes a system onchip (SoC) identified as BT LE 210 which can be configured in compliancewith, for example, Part B of the Bluetooth Specification Version 4.0(“BT LE Link Layer Specification”) Jun. 30, 2010. That particularspecification describes the Bluetooth (BT) low energy (LE) Link Layerrequired in the core system packet. For clarification of the method andexecution of computer program instructions, the Link Layer of BT LE willbe briefly described below.

In BT LE, the operation of the Link Layer is described in terms of astate machine representing a BT LE compliant device (“device”)operation. A device can operate in one of five (5) states: StandbyState, Advertising State, Scanning State, Initiating State, andConnection State. The Link Layer state machine allows only one state tobe active at a time. Also, the Link Layer is required to have at leastone Link Layer state machine that supports an Advertising State orScanning State. However, the Link Layer may have multiple instances ofthe Link Layer state machine.

In Standby State a device does not transmit or receive any packets andcan be entered from any other state. This is the default state in BT LELink Layer.

In the Advertising State, the Link Layer transmits advertising channelpackets, protocol data units (PDUs) (e.g. messages) and possibly listensto and respond to responses triggered by these advertising channelpackets. A device in the Advertising State is known as an “advertiser.”For example, in FIG. 2, the BT LE 140 is in an advertising state andcauses the wireless flashing initiator 100 to act as an advertiser inFIG. 5 by transmitting a flashing event 155. The Advertising State canbe entered from the Standby State. A Bluetooth low energy device actingas an advertiser broadcasts advertising packets during advertisingevents on advertising channels. An advertising event is a series ofbetween one and three advertising PDUs on different advertising channelssent by an advertiser. For clarity in the presentation of one particularexemplary embodiment of the present invention the advertising event canbe referred to by its function “flashing event.”

In Scanning State, a device listens for advertising channel packets fromdevices that are advertising. A device in the Scanning State is known asa “scanner.” The BT LE 210 of the electronic device module 200 LinkLayer shown in FIG. 3 is initially in a scanning state and targetelectronic device 1g acting as a scanner in FIG. 5. The Scanning Statecan be entered from the Standby State.

In the Initiating State a device listens for advertising channel packetsfrom a specific device(s) and responding to these packets to initiate aconnection with another device. A device in the Initiating State isknown as an “initiator.” The target electronic device 1g Link Layertransitions the device into the initiating state as shown in FIG. 5. TheInitiating State can be entered from the Standby State.

The Connection State can be entered either from the Initiating State orthe Advertising State. In FIG. 5, the wireless flashing initiator 200Link Layer enters the connection state from an advertising state and thetarget electronic device 1g Link Layer transitions from the initiatingstate. Device in the Connection State are known as being in a“connection”. Thereafter, within the Connection State, two roles aredefined; the Master Role and the Slave Role. In FIG. 5, the wirelessflashing initiator 100 is the slave and the target electronic device 1gis in the role of master.

Each advertising event mentioned above is composed of one or moreadvertising channel packets sent on each advertising channel indexes.The advertising event is discontinued (closed) after one advertisingchannel packet has been sent on each of the three used advertisingchannel indexes of the advertiser. A device may close an advertisingevent earlier to accommodate other functionality. For example, in onepossible embodiment, the flashing event may close due to dissipation ofthe electronic device module 200 internal battery (e.g. below anacceptable threshold).

An advertising event can be one of following four (4) types: aconnectable undirected event; a connectable directed event; anon-connectable undirected event; or a scannable undirected event. Eachof the above advertising event types uses a corresponding advertisingchannel packet data unit. The first packet data unit of each advertisingevent transmits in the used advertising channel with the lowestadvertising channel index.

The advertising event type determines the allowable response packet dataunits (PDUs). Table 1.1 below specifies the allowable response for eachadvertising event.

TABLE 1.1 Advertising Event Types, PDUs used and allowable responsePDUs. Allowable response PDUs for advertising event Advertising PDU usedin this CON- Event Type advertising event type SCAN_REQ NECT_REQConnectable ADV_IND YES YES Undirected Event Connectable ADV_DIRECT_INDNO YES Directed Event Non- ADV_NON- NO NO Connectable CONN_INDUndirected Event Scannable ADV_SCAN_IND YES NO Undirected Event

In addition to the allowable response PDUs to advertising event typesevents set forth in Table 1.1, the Link Layer Specification alsorequires the following: If the advertiser receives a PDU for theadvertising event that is not explicitly allowed it shall be ignored. Ifno PDU is received or the received PDU was ignored, the advertiser shalleither send an advertising PDU on the next used advertising channelindex or close the advertising event.

Advertising events use three predefined advertising channels. Moreover,advertising channel indexes are either used or unused. According to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the Link Layer of each BTLE device can use the advertising channel indexes as specified by theHost and the advertising channel indexes take effect when theadvertising state is entered.

For all undirected advertising events, the time between the start of twoconsecutive advertising events (T_advEvent) is computed as follows foreach advertising event:T_advEvent=advInterval+advDelay   (Equation No. 1)where advInterval is an integer multiple of 0.625 ms in the range of 20ms to 10.24 s. advDelay is a pseudo-random value with a range of 0 ms to10 ms generated by the link layer for each advertising event. The linklayer also requires that if the advertising event type is either ascannable undirected event type or a non-connectable undirected eventtype, the advInterval is not less than 100 ms. On the other hand, if theadvertising event type is connectable undirected event type, theadvInterval can be 20 ms or greater.

As mentioned above, each electronic device contains a white list whichis a list of BT LE devices allowed to access one another. Each whitelist entry can be referred to as a “white list record” used for linklayer device filtering and which contains both the device address andthe device address type (public or random). On reset, a device's whitelist can be deleted for security reasons. The white list is configuredby the Host and is used by the Link Layer to filter advertisers, scanneror initiators. In other words, this allows the Host to configure theLink Layer to act on a request without awakening the Host.

In the advertising state, the advertising filtering policy determineshow the advertiser's device Link Layer processes scan and/or connectionrequests. When the device is using connectable directed advertising theadvertising filter policy is ignored, otherwise the Link Layer use oneof the following four (4) advertising filter policy modes which areconfigured by the Host:

-   -   (1) Link Layer of a device processes scan and connection        requests only from devices in the White List;    -   (2) Link Layer of a device processes scan and connection        requests from all devices (e.g. White List not in use) (This is        the default on reset);    -   (3) Link Layer of a device processes scan requests from all        devices and only processes connection requests from devices that        are in the White List; and    -   (4) Link Layer of a device processes connection requests from        all devices and only process scan requests from devices that are        in the White List.        Only one advertising filtering policy mode is supported at a        time.

In the scanning state, the scanner filter policy determines how thescanner's Link Layer processes received advertising packets. A deviceuses one of the following two scanner filter policy modes which areconfigured by the Host:

-   -   (1) Link Layer of a device processes advertising packets only        from devices in the White List; or    -   (2) Link Layer of a device processes all advertising packets        (e.g. White List is not used). This default on reset.

Also, as defined by the scanner filter policy, any connectable directedadvertising packet received which does not contain the scanner's deviceaddress is ignored. Moreover, only one scanner filter policy mode issupported at a time.

In the initiation state, the initiator filter policy determines how aninitiator's link layer processes advertising packets. A device uses oneof the following initiator filter policy modes which are configured bythe Host:

-   -   (1) Link Layer of a device processes connectable advertising        packets from all devices in the White List; or    -   (2) Link Layer of a device ignores the White List and process        connectable advertising packets from a specific single device        specified by the Host.

Also, like in the initiation state, if a device receives a connectabledirected advertising packet from an advertiser that is not contained inits White List or the single address specified by the Host, theconnectable directed advertising packet is ignored. Moreover, only oneinitiator policy mode is supported at a time.

As mentioned above, some exemplary embodiments of the present inventionemploy connectable undirected event type or connection directedadvertising event type. When the connectable undirected advertisingevent type is used, advertising indications (ADV_IND PDU) are sent bythe Link Layer of the BT LE compliant device. This event type allows adevice acting as a scanner or initiator to respond with either a scanrequest or connect request. A scanner can for example respond by sendinga scan request (SCAN_REQ PDU) to request additional information aboutthe advertiser. On the other hand, an initiator can respond by sending aconnect request (CONNECT_REQ PDU) to request the Link Layer to enter theConnection State. The link layer requires that devices listen on thesame advertising channel index for requests from scanners or initiators.

If the advertiser receives a SCAN_REQ PDU that contains its deviceaddress from a scanner allowed by the advertising filter policy, itreplies with SCAN_RSP PDU on the same advertising channel index. Afterthe SCAN_RSP PDU is sent, or if the advertising filter policy prohibitsprocessing the SCAN_REQ PDU, the advertiser move to the next usedadvertising channel index to send another ADV_IND PDU, or close theadvertising event.

If the advertiser receives a CONNECT_REQ PDU that contains its deviceaddress from an initiator allowed by the advertising filter policy, theLink Layer exits the Advertising State to transition into the ConnectionState in a Slave Role. If the advertising filter policy prohibitedprocessing the received CONNECT_REQ PDU, the advertiser either moves tothe next used advertising channel index to send another ADV_IND PDU, orclose the advertising event.

The time between the beginning of two consecutive ADV_IND PDUs within anadvertising event is less than or equal to 10 ms. The advertising stateis closed within the advertising event.

Referring now to FIG. 13A, an illustration of advertising eventsemploying connectable undirected event type is shown according to theprior art. As shown in that figure, the advertising event uses all theadvertising channel indexes during which a SCAN_REQ PDU is received anda SCAN_RSP PDU is sent in 1300A. The figure is reproduced from Section 4of the BT LE Link Layer Specification which describes the Air InterfaceProtocol of the Link Layer Specification, Bluetooth SpecificationVersion 4.0 Jun. 30, 2010, Volume 6, p. 61 (FIG. 4.3 in the original).

As can be seen in FIG. 13A, an advertising event is started 1301A by afirst BT LE compliant device as a connectable undirected event (ADV_IND)1301A on an unused advertising channel assigned advertising channelindex (Adv_idx) 37. A second connectable undirected event (ADV_IND)1320A is sent on Adv_idx 38 by that same device. At this point, a secondBT LE compliant device responds on the same Adv_idx 38 with a scanrequest SCAN_REQ 1330A. The time inter frame space (T_IFS) which is thetime interval between consecutive packets on same channel index is notspecified here since it is not limited because the advertising intervalof an connectable undirected event can be 20 ms or greater as mentionedabove.

Next, the first BT LE compliant device applies its advertising filterpolicy which in this case allows a scan response SCAN_RSP 1340A to besent on the same Adv_idx 38. The first BT LE compliant device moves tothe next unused Adv_idx 39 and sends a third connectable undirectedevent (ADV_IND) 1350A. The advertising event is closed 1399A since allthree Adv_idxs are used. Since the event is a connectable undirectedevent, the advertising interval can be 20 ms or greater as mentionedabove.

When the connectable directed advertising event type is used, directedadvertising indications (ADV_DIRECT_PDUs) are sent by the Link Layer ofthe BT LE compliant device. The connectable directed advertising eventtype allows an initiator to respond with a connect request. An initiatormay send a connect request (CONNECT_REQ PDU) to request the Link layerto enter the Connection State. The ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU contains both theinitiator's device address and the advertiser's device address. Only theaddressed initiator may initiate a Link Layer with the advertiser bysending a CONNECT_REQ PDU to the advertiser.

After every ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU sent by the advertiser, the advertiserlistens for CONNECT_REQ PDUs on the same advertising channel index. AnySCAN_REQ PDUs received is ignored.

If the advertiser receives a CONNECT_REQ PDU that contains its deviceaddress and the initiator device address is contained in theADV_DIRECT_IND PDU, the Link Layer shall exit the Advertising State andtransition to the Connection State in the Slave Role. Otherwise, theadvertiser shall either move to the next used advertising index to sendanother ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU, or close the advertising event.

The time between the start of two consecutive ADV_DIRECT_IND PDUs senton the same advertising channel index is less than or equal to 3.75 ms.Also the link layer exits the advertising state no later than 1.28 safter the advertising state was entered.

Referring now to FIG. 13B, a connectable directed advertising event typeis illustrated according to the prior art. The figure is reproduced fromSection 4 of the BT LE Link Layer Specification which describes the AirInterface Protocol of the Link Layer Specification, BluetoothSpecification Version 4.0 Jun. 30, 2010, Volume 6, p. 62 (FIG. 4.6 inthe original). As shown in the figure, only advertising PDUs transmittedon the available channels is illustrated 1300B. As shown in FIG. 13B, aBT LE compliant device transmits a sequence of five ADV_DIRECT_IND PDUsin two advertising events without receiving a CONNECT_REQ PDUs. Theadvertising event is started 1301B by introducing a first ADV_DIRECT_INDPDU 1301B on Adv_inx 37. A second ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU 1320B followstransmitted on Adv_inx 38 and then a third ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU 1320Btransmitted on Adv_inx 39. Since the sequence is more than 3.75 ms theadvertising event must close. 1399B. Now, the BT LE compliant devicestarts a second advertising event 1302B by transmitting a fourthADV_DIRECT_IND PDU 1340B on Adv_inx 37 followed by a fifthADV_DIRECT_IND PDU 1350B on Adv_inx 38. The specific BT LE compliantdevice sought has not yet responded to the advertiser. Hence, thisdemonstrates that connectable directed advertising is well designed forcases in which fast Link Layer connection set up is essential (e.g.reconnection) however, it is a power and bandwidth intensive advertisingscheme.

When directed by a host BT LE compliant device, the BT LE compliantdevice acting as an initiator enters the Scanning State. In particular,when scanning, the device listens on the advertising channel indices.There are two types of scanning, determined by the Host: passive andactive. When in passive scanning, the Link Layer will only receivepackets; it does not send any packets. On the other hand in ActiveScanning, the Link Layer shall listen for advertising PDUs and dependingon the advertising PDU type it may request an advertiser to sendadditional information.

During scanning, the Link Layer listens on an advertising channel indexfor the duration of the scanning window, scanWindow. The scan interval,scanInterval, is defined as the interval between the start of twoconsecutive scan windows.

The Link Layer should listen for the complete scanWindow everyscanInterval as directed by the Host unless there is schedulingconflict. In each scan window, the Link Layer should scan on a differentadvertising channel index. The Link Layer shall use the advertisingchannel indices.

According to the BT LE Link Layer Specification, the scanWindow andscanInterval parameters are less than or equal to 10.24 s. Moreover, thescanWindow is less than or equal to the scanInterval. If the scanWindowand the scanInterval parameters are set to the same value by the Host,the Link Layer should scan continuously. The scanner filter policyapplies when receiving an advertising PDU when scanning.

According to one or more exemplary embodiment of the present invention aBT LE compliant device coupled to a remote device (e.g. the EDM 200 inFIG. 3) can significantly reduce average current consumption. Forexample, if the scanWindow is 20 ms and the scanInterval is 10.24 s aduty cycle is order of 0.2%.

A BT LE compliant device also generates reports. In particular, for eachnon-duplicate ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU received by a BT LE device whichcontains its link layer's device address (from an advertiser) results inan advertising report generated and sent to the Host. Also, for eachnon-duplicate ADV_IND, ADV_SCAN_IND, ADV_NONCONN_IND, or SCAN_RSP PDUreceived from advertisers, results in an advertising report generatedand sent to the Host. The advertising report contains at least theadvertiser's device address and advertising data or scan response dataif present. Duplicate advertising reports are not required to be sent tothe Host. A duplicate advertising report is an advertising report forthe same device address while the Link Layer stays in the ScanningState. The advertising data may change; advertising data or scanresponse data is not considered significant when determining duplicateadvertising reports.

Scanning can be either passive or active. When in passive scanning, theLink Layer will only receive packets; it does not send any packets. Onthe other hand in Active Scanning, the Link Layer listens foradvertising PDUs and depending on the advertising PDU type it mayrequest an advertiser to send additional information.

The Link Layer sends a SCAN_REQ PDU to an advertiser from which an ADVIND PDU or ADV_SCAN_IND PDU is received.

The Link Layer sends at least one SCAN_REQ PDU after entering theScanning State to advertisers from which ADV_IND or ADV_SCAN_IND PDUsare received. The Link Layer sends further SCAN_REQ PDUs to advertisersfrom which ADV_IND or ADV_SCAN IND PDUs have been received. Moreover,the Link Layer is configured to interleave SCAN_RSP PDUs to multipleadvertisers.

The scanner runs a backoff procedure to minimize collisions of SCAN_REQPDUs from multiple scanners. Also, upon entering Scanning State, theupperLimit is set to one and the backoffCount shall be set to one.

Also according to the BT LE Link Layer Specification, on every receivedADV_IND PDU or ADV_SCAN_IND PDU that is allowed by a scanner filterpolicy and every SCAN_REQ PDU sent the backoffCount decremented by oneuntil it reaches the value of zero. The SCAN_REQ PDU shall only be sentwhen backoffCount becomes zero.

After sending a SCAN_REQ PDU the Link Layer listens for a SCAN_RSP PDUfrom that advertiser. If the SCAN_RSP PDU was not received from thatadvertiser, it is considered a failure otherwise it is considered asuccess. On every two consecutive failures, the upperLimit is doubleduntil it reaches the value of 256. On every two consecutive successes,the upper limit is halved until it reaches the value of one. Aftersuccess or failure of receiving the SCAN_RSP PDU, the link layer setsbackoffCount to a new pseudorandom integer between one and upperLimit.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a logical flow diagram 700 depicts an exemplarybut non-limiting method and execution of computer program instructionswhich operate to cause the flashing at least one or more electronicdevices and to direct the transfer of firmware/software/content updatesto those devices. Initially, the electronic device module 200 is parkedin a scanning state which causes low power consumption from the internalbattery 220. Accordingly, the BT LE 210 is monitoring for a triggersignal 710. The WFI 200 BT LE 140 acting as an advertiser allows theEDM's BT LE 210 to detect a trigger 720 (e.g. receives advertisingpacket data).

In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the BT LEconnection setup between BT LE 140 and BT LE 210 employs connectabledirect advertising. The link layers of both devices are configured asfollow: The ADV_DIRECT_IND PDU is 175 us with the advertising event≤3.75ms with three ADV_DIRECT_IND PDUs sent on three different channel and anew event is started immediately after the previously one. With respectto scanning, the scanWindow is 20 ms and the scanInterval is 10.24 s.

The performance on this particular embodiment is as follows: theADV_DIRECT PDU is found by the scanner in 4 ms (within the scanIntervalof 10.24 s) (and the results have a linear distribution).

In another exemplary embodiment of these teachings, the BT LE connectionsetup between BT LE 140 and BT LE 210 employs connectable undirectedadvertising. Undirected advertisement parameters can be configured toset a MINIMUM value between two advertisement events which could be 20ms+random delay ranging from 0 ms to 10 ms as defined by the BT LEspecification described above. The link layers of both devices areconfigured as follows: the ADV_IND PDU is 108 us with the advertisingevent≥20 ms within 3.75 ms three ADV_IND PDUs are sent on threedifferent channels and separated in time by event≤10 ms and a new eventis started immediately after the previous one. With respect to scanning,the scanWindow is 20/30 ms and the scanInterval is 10.24 s.

The performance of this particular embodiment when the scanWindow is setat 20 ms results in a connection established with ˜83% likelihood(within 10.24 s) and ˜97% likelihood (within 20.48 s). On the otherhand, the performance of this particular embodiment when the scanWindowis set at 30 ms results in a connection established with ˜100%likelihood within the scanInterval of 10.24 s (an average of 5.12 s).That is, in this particular embodiment, the likelihood for successfulconnection setup is increased more by increasing the scanWindow from 20ms to 30 ms rather than by doing multiple scans (monitoring window 10.24s or 20.48 s=>scanInterval is equal to 10.24 s, and scanWindow is 20ms).

After the devices are setup, the EDM 200 performs a first level securitycheck 730 by checking its white list to determine if an entry existsthat matches the wireless flashing initiator 100 address. Alternativeembodiments of these teachings may employ additional security featuresor checks such as the following non-limiting examples: (1) white listonly, (2) public/private key authentication methods as known in the art,or (3) white list+a public/private key authentication method. Moreover,the EDM 200 could be configured to provide no first level security atall. The determination of which security feature or check to employ (ornot to employ any) will depend on the technical capabilities (e.g.radio, storage and processing capabilities) of the devices involved(e.g. electronic devices and wireless initiator). If the wirelessflashing initiator 100 passes the security check then the BT LE 210turns on the power of the electronic device module 200 for example byemulating the pressing of the power button 740. As shown in FIG. 3, andin one exemplary embodiment, the BT LE 210 utilizes a switch 260 whichis essentially a tied-down resistor coupled to a pin (e.g. grounds toobtain a Power ON/Off) and Power key 265 of microcontroller 240.Depending on the microcontroller or DSP and BT LE chip found in aparticular electronic device module the particular pin out to begrounded may differ.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, SW 260 is in parallel with power key 265, sothat closing SW 260 emulates the closing of the power key 265. In somemicrocontrollers or processors a pin might be available which isresponsible for energy and power management (EPM) functions. Bygrounding this particular pin the microcontroller or processor is causedto receive a Power On/Off request which starts the device. The sameapproach can be employed to power off the device as discussed below.

It should be understood that other embodiments of these teachings mayinvolve EDM 200 equipped with an EPM chip 290 that uses other electricalsignals for power up. For example, instead of the electrical ground or 0Volts such a signal may be some positive voltage, e.g. 1.8 Volts, 3.3Volts or 5 Volts. In addition, such an electrical signal may includetime dependence, e.g. the signal may be certain time at some voltagelevel and/or require several different voltage levels.

The EPM chipset 290 may then proceed to power up the whole device in thenormal fashion. This means that the EPM chipset initializes itself andthen starts to provide suitable operating voltages to other componentsof the EDM 200. To illustrate an example, FIG. 3 shows three voltages,namely V₁, V₂, and V₃. The operating voltages are used to power up allother necessary components of the EDM 200. These components areillustrated as Component X 280 in FIG. 3. It should be understood thatComponent X 280 represents any hardware component(s) of the electronicdevice module 200 including but not limited to, for example, MCU 240 andWLAN 270.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention contains a method thatinvolves a special flashing power up sequence. In this case the power upsignal from the switch 260 causes the EPM chipset 290 to power up onlyselected components of the EDM 200. For example, one component in theelectronic device module 200 can be a display. The special flashingpower up sequence may omit the power up of the display since it is notneeded for flashing EDM 200. In a similar way, for example a cellularmodem may be left unpowered. This helps to save the energy in thebattery 220 during the flashing process.

In one non-limiting embodiment of these teachings the special power upsequence described above is controlled by the MCU 240. In this case, theMCU may contain a modified boot code that detects the presence of aflashing event. The modified boot code defines a specific boot sequencewhich omits the powering up of certain components (e.g. the displaymicrophone, keypad, camera, cellular radio or other components) therebylimiting the device power consumption and only powering up componentscritical to transferring software/firmware or content. In thisembodiment, the MCU 240 may elect to configure the EPM chipset 290 toomit power up of some components 280, to power down some components 280if they have already been powered up. It is also possible that MCU 240configures some components 280 or to a power save mode without actuallycutting the operating voltages. This may, for example, involve lowerclock frequencies, or some internal power gating in component 280. Inone exemplary embodiment, MCU 240 can detect without additionalcommunication that the power on sequence is linked to a wirelessflashing event (e.g. there is a dedicated PowerOnX pin). As shown inFIG. 3, in the case where signals received from switch 260 and power key265 are coupled to the same PowerOnX pin.

Next, the BT LE 210 informs the microcontroller 240 of an upcomingflashing event 750. In this step, the microcontroller 240, inconjunction with the regulator 225 (or alternatively a power managementchip 810 as shown in FIG. 8), determine whether adequate power isavailable to allow the flashing event. In other words, if the internalbattery 200 is depleted below a predetermined threshold level theflashing event is aborted.

If adequate power is available in internal battery 220 (or alternativelyif the EDM 200 is actively under recharge via an externally sourcedwireless battery recharge signal), then the microcontroller 240 executesa wireless flashing initialization sequence 760. During this step, themicrocontroller performs a high level security check and provides thesoftware version of its firmware and of its software to the wirelessflashing initiator 100 BT LE 140. The high level security feature orcheck as used throughout this disclosure refers to possible additionalsecurity measures (and more strict security check) than the first levelsecurity feature or check discussed above (e.g. access to the EDM). Thehigh level security feature or check prevents unauthorized parties fromcausing the EDM 200 to engage in data transfers over the WLAN even ifthey pass the first level security feature or check. Accordingly, thehigh level security feature or check requires that the first level ofsecurity be passed. In first level security, the wake-up of the deviceduring the flashing event is prevented if a party is unauthorized (e.g.not in the white list or does not have key credentials). High levelsecurity prevents the CPU from turning on more resources such as turningon a broadband radio or other components.

High level security policies can include multiple access rights levelsbased upon the status of the parties attempting access or the type ofactivity which those parties seeking to engage the device. For example ahigh level security policy may include multiple access levels based uponthe status of the party attempting access (some non-limiting examplesare device manufactures, governmental or other authorities such ascustoms officials, sales representative or customers). Different accessrights may restrict particular parties from reading certain files on thedevice, transferring files, installing files, removing/deleting files orre-configuring the device. With respect to sales and customer rights,the security policy might not allow some of the above operationsdepending upon the where in the device is in the supply chain (e.g. in afactory, warehouse or retail store). For example, in the factory andwarehouse phases the EDM might not authorize rights to sales persons orcustomers. On the other hand, in the retail operations or maintenancephases the EDM can authorize rights to sales persons or customers. Otherparties such as, governmental or other authorities such as customsofficials may have security access under a high level security policy atthe distribution phase.

Different data categories may also dictate a high level security policy.For example, firmware updates and installations might require highersecurity schemes than the transfer of advertisements (content). Thereason for this distinction could be based upon the specificcharacteristics of the storage device(s) within the device (e.g.different memory locations). High level security policies can alsocontrol whether hardware, software or system information is released toparties, whether a broadband radio is initialized or if multipleinstance of installation of software/firmware (or unassisted downing ofcontent) is authorized.

The above described high level security policies can be a combination ofconventional access rights based upon the status of the parties and/orthe type of activities involved.

Some non-limiting examples of security methods or mechanisms to providehigh level security can include, various public/private key exchangemechanisms known in the art, including various algorithm configured tocombine IMEI codes of a particular device combined with access keysmaintained in a over the air server of a manufacturer or otherauthorized party (e.g. Bootstrapping in GSM). Another possible securitymechanism could include a pin code in the retail operations stage. Also,the EDM can be configured to permit a certain number of attempts and totime-limit attempts at authorization. In the event that a party fails topass the authentication within a predetermined number of attempts ortime, the EDM will abort the wireless flashing event.

After passing high level security, as described above, the next step caninvolve a determination of whether the firmware or software is in needof an update. If required, the BT LE 210 receives instructions toinstall additional software, the EDM 200 receives instructions for filetransfer and installation of firmware or software updates 770. Theinstructions include set up parameters for the WLAN module 270 such asthe name of a secure communication network, the SSID of the accesspoint, security settings, security keys and key indexes. Also,instructions can include information regarding how much content can betransferred, the allowable format and storage locations in memory. Inthe embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 it is assumedthat the EDM 200 has WLAN capabilities. It is also possible that insteadof WLAN any other communication media, such as Bluetooth or BluetoothLow Energy, can be used for providing connectivity for the flashingdata. Additional information can be sent to the EDM 200 to allow accessto the electronic device manufacturer's server or an affiliated party toprovide firmware and/or software updated via a predetermined network.Such information may include the name of an over the air (OTA) server,server port, address, username and password to authenticate to thatserver.

Next, the EDM 200 can execute one of three operations: (1) a filetransfer over the WLAN (2) a file transfer and installationsoftware/firmware updates over the WLAN or (3) an installation ofsoftware/firmware updates from the device's memory (e.g. “flashing”triggers installation of certain software version) 780. After thesoftware update is completed the BT LE 210 powers down the EDM 200 andthe white list can be erased, modified or updated. Such a powering downcan be accomplished by using the switch 260. Alternatively, the poweringdown can be made by the MCU 240. By doing so the BT LE 210 or MCU 240turns off all components of the electronic device module except the BTLE 210 (Step 790). The BT LE 210 Link Layer transitions back to ascanner state. It should be noted that the flashing procedure andinstalling software/firmware updates may include several power up andpower down events.

As described above an apparatus, system, method, and computer program(s)are disclosed in accordance with some of the exemplary embodimentswherein an electronic device utilizes its own battery to initiate aflashing event.

FIGS. 9 and 10 disclose alternative embodiments of these teachings. Forexample, FIG. 9 discloses a BT LE 940, PM chip 910, EPM chip 990 and aswitch 970 coupled in parallel with the power key 980 and used for aflashing event and a Bluetooth chip 930 employed to transfer files(software and firmware updated) to the EDM 900. BT LE 940 also accessesmemory 950 to check the white list 955 to determine whether anadvertising packet unit should be responded. Both the BT LE 940 and BT930 may share the same Bluetooth transceiver 945.

In FIG. 10, an acoustic modem 1040 together with a secondmicrocontroller 1010 and a second memory 1055 and a switch 1070 are usedfor a flashing event. In this embodiment at least one microphone orother type transducer (not shown) contained within the electronic deviceis used to monitor for an acoustic trigger signal. This trigger signalcould be provided by the wireless flashing initiator 100 via aloudspeaker (not shown). The frequency can be audible to humans oralternative in the infrasound and/or ultrasound spectrums. To guaranteea sufficiently long operating time, this sensing solution must havesufficiently low power consumption. Hence, the acoustic sensing solutionmay also include a separate low-power AD and DA-conversion unit 1045 aswell as a data processing unit (microcontroller) 1010. In addition, dutycycling can be used to reduce the power to an acceptable level.Furthermore, the “acoustic modem” can contain enough computing power andmemory to be able to make the decision whether the detected bit sequenceis one of the correct ones that will result in powering on the rest ofthe device. Selection of an over the shelf acoustic modem should havesufficient control ports to be able to wake up the rest of the deviceand to informs the CPU about an upcoming flashing event.

As used above, the term “acoustic sensing” infers that the devicealready has adequate non-volatile memory and the correct settings forreceiving a SW/firmware update over the broadband radio such as a WLAN1080 and transceiver 1035. However, it is also possible to transfer dataover the acoustic link (not shown) which can also be bidirectional whenat least one of the loudspeakers of the target device is also used inthe data transfer.

Alternatively, a microphone and loudspeaker could be replaced by a lightsensor or light transceiver (not shown). In this case the light may beinfrared (IR), near infrared, visible light or any other wavelengthproviding essentially the same functionality. In the case of a lighttransceiver, the sales package is made to be sufficiently transparent tothe wavelengths of light used, either entirely or via a sufficientlylarge window.

As shown in FIG. 10, the electronic device module, includes an energyand power management (EPM) chip 1065 which provides electrical power tocomponent X 1030A and can in various embodiments control powerdistributed to all or some of the components shown in FIG. 10. ComponentX 1030A represents any other component of the Electronic Device Module1000.

Other configurations are possible using near field communications, acharging loop, infrared, Zigbee, or ANT™ radio devices (ANT™ is a typeof low power personal or sensor network). With respect to the filetransfer other possible modules can be connected to microcontroller 240(see Component X 280) to affect a high speed data transfer of firmwareor software updates. For example, in one or more exemplary embodimentsof the present invention, Component X 280 can be a storage devicesuitable for storing software/firmware in ROM or RAM memory. Data caninclude software, firmware, user data or any other digital content whichcan be made available in any fixed storage media or in any detachablestorage device such as a USB memory stick, eMMC, micro SD, SD card orany other detachable storage device. In one possible embodiment the EDM200 can contain multiple versions of software and firmware, content oroperating systems stored in memory. In later steps in the supply chainthe unwanted versions can be removed/deleted. Accordingly, the flashingevent would in this instant be an installation only flashing event.

Component X 280 can also be a sensor to detect movement of theelectronic device. The sensor capabilities can also be coupled directlyto the BT LE 1040 (not shown) as such it would not be necessary totrigger the EPM 200 or MCU 1060 to determine a sensor value or obtain ameasurement. As discussed above, the present invention allowsinteraction with the device while in sale packaging. As such, it mightbe advantageous to configure the device to operate in different modesfor either privacy or power saving modes. For example, a sensor wouldimplemented at Component X 280 would in one embodiment of theseteachings be configured to detect the orientation of the sale packaging(right side up). Therefore, employing such a sensor would allow for theelectronic device to be stored in a warehouse in BT LE in scan mode.Then in transit, upon exiting the warehouse the warehouse pickers wouldbe instructed to flip each box containing the electronic devices. Theflipping of the boxes would trigger a change in the BT LE mode toadvertising mode. Alternatively, the flipping of the sale packaging endto end could affect the entering into advertisement mode at the retailstage to allow faster connection step-up of the device. Otherembodiments could include one of the following non-limiting examples,such as twisting, bending, or shaking, raising or lowering thetemperature of the electronic device while in the sale packaging toobtain a similar result. Some non-limiting examples of sensors could bean accelerometer, capacitive displacement sensor, optical sensor, or apressure sensor.

In FIG. 11, another alternative exemplary embodiment of these teachingsis illustrated in a logical flow chart showing a method and execution ofcomputer instruction 1100. As shown there, the method or operationstarts 1110 by configuring the BT LE link layers of at least one or moreBT LE compliant devices in accordance with one or more exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. At least two examples of BT LEconfigurations are provided for in this embodiment as non-limitingexamples of advertising event types using either the connection directevent type or the connection undirected event type.

After the BT LE link layers have been configured, a first BT LEcompliant device is designated to operate in a scan state to monitor fora trigger signal 1120 which can be a SCAN_REQ PDU or a CONNECTION_REQPDU as explained above with respect to the Bluetooth Link LayerSpecification. A second BT LE Compliant device is also configured tooperate in the advertiser state to broadcast either PDU (triggersignal). Once the first BT LE compliant device receives either PDU fromadvertiser it detects the trigger 1122 and responses by checking itspredetermined filtering policy. In one embodiment of these teachings,the advertising policy allows processing scans of all advertising eventsif the second BT LE device is within its white list and responding tosame if that BT LE devices' address is contained within. Accordingly,the first BT LE device performs this 1^(st) level security check 1124and determines whether security is passed 1130. An alternative oraddition a first level security method could include setting a limit onthe range of the low power radio to only allow wireless flashing at apredetermine range (e.g. adjusting the received signal strengthindication (RSSI) measurement in the BT LE receiver). As such, longdistance programming could be prohibited in certain phases of the supplychain. For example, this security measure could protect the devices inthe distribution phase where the device could be sitting in a truck in apublicly accessible location. This could be accomplished by limiting aWFI 100 distance to a EDM 200 whereas BT LE connections would requireset up packages to be received at a RSSI level higher than a certainminimum level. If the security check fails 1130A, the first BT LEresumes its monitoring by returning to that step (1120). On the otherhand, if the second BT LE devices address is contained in the white listthen the first and second BT LE devices transition into a connectionstate (not shown). In other words, the second BT LE device passed thefirst level security check 1130B.

Next after a connection is formed between the first and second BT LEdevices, the first BT LE executes an algorithm to turn on a device whichcan be coupled to the first BT LE device 1140. In one exemplary example,the device can first turn on a microcontroller 240 (or similarprocessor) as described above with respect to the electronic module 200shown in FIG. 3 (1150). Once the device is powered on instructiontransmitted from the second BT LE compliant device can be transmitted tomemory contained within the device which is coupled to the first BT LEcompliant device. A power management chip turns on a CPU coupled to thefirst BT LE compliant device 1150. The BT LE compliant device theninforms the CPU of an upcoming flashing event 1155.

Next, the CPU executes a wireless flashing sequence 1160. This stepinvolves four sub-steps or sub-routines. The first sub routine (A)executes a high level security check 1200A as shown in FIG. 12Ainvolving authentication process involves three sub-steps applying ahigh level security policy discussed above. The first step can bedetermined based on the type of user seeking access (e.g. manufacturers,retail operators, consumers or the like) 1205. The second sub step candetermine the level of access (read, transfer files, installsoftware/firmware/content and the like) 1210. A third sub step can set atime limit or set the number of allowable attempts 1215. The threesub-steps shown in FIG. 12A merely provide one possible embodiment andare non-limiting as other combinations and additional sub stepsincluding additional security policies can be added.

A second subroutine (B) shown in FIG. 12B, provides hardware and systeminformation back to the second BT LE compliant device to determine if aflashing event is possible based upon system constrains (e.g. memory,power dissipation and storage) 1200B. As shown in FIG. 12B, the first BTLE compliant device accesses memory of the second BT LE compliant deviceto locate information about the device's resources and capabilities.1220 The first BT LE compliant device receives hardware and softwareversion information and well as other system information such as batterystate of charge (SOC) transmitted from the second BT LE compliantdevice. 1225. The second BT LE compliant device may also include sub-substeps of sub step 1220 (not shown) to provide information about thecharging level of its battery so the first BT LE compliant device candetermine if one of the following five possible scenarios can occur: (1)transfer of any data (e.g. if the software/firmware/content can betransferred at all); (2) transfer of the full data without installingthe software (e.g. install after next boot); (3) transfer the full dataload and run installation of the software/firmware/content in the secondBT LE compliant device; (4) transfer the full software/firmware/content,install it and determined how much more content can be transfer to thedevice; and/or (5) removal of electronic device from sale box to makedata transfer (battery is not strong enough).

The third subroutine (C) shown in FIG. 12C, allows for the first BT LEto receive WLAN settings and over the air settings via BT LE radio toallow for transfer of data via a WLAN to the device coupled to the firstBT LE device 1200C. As shown in FIG. 12C, WLAN settings are transmittedto the second BT LE compliant device 1235 including the name of a securecommunication network, the service set identifier (SSID) of the accesspoint, security settings, security keys and key indexes. Also, over theair settings including the name of a remote server together with its IPaddress and port address can be received by the second BT LE device. Itis also possible that some other connectivity is used, such asBluetooth, instead of WLAN. All data received by the second BT LEcompliant device are stored in memory 1240.

The fourth subroutine (D) shown in FIG. 12D, allows for the CPU to turnon WLAN coupled to that device to allow for the device to receivesoftware or other content to be stored in memory coupled to the CPU1200D. The first sub step involves turning on the broadband radio suchas a WLAN 1250. As mentioned above, other high data rate radio devicescan be employed such as modems allowing WCDMA, LTE, LTE-A, WiGig, UWB/60GHz, UTRAN, GSM, BT LAN, or near-me area network (NAN) (e.g. employingclose proximity communication technologies such as high data-rateextension of NFC or RFID etc.) This sub step could include additionalsecurity control sub steps as discussed above. The next sub stepinvolves configuring the WiFi/WLAN connection based upon the settingreceived from the first BT LE complaint device and stored in memory1255. Next the second BT LE compliant device connects to a communicationnetwork 1260. In an alternative embodiment, sub step 1235 discussedabove and shown in FIG. 12C can occur at the same time as turning on theWLAN.

After completing the above four sub routines, the CPU coupled to thefirst BT LE compliant device receives instructions for file transfer andinstallation instructions from the second BT LE compliant device 1170.Alternatively, all or part of the instructions can be shared over abroadband radio connection. Thereafter, the CPU executes a file transferover the WLAN and installs software or content 1180.

As discussed above at various stages of the supply chain it might benecessary to reconfigure the electronic devices. As show in FIG. 11,after software/firmware has been installed it might be desirable todelete the data or the WLAN setting 1185. The closing of the wirelessflashing event session may also include an updated security key and/orsettings needed to establish the next software/firmware/content session1188. The security setting can be updated both in the wireless flashinginitiator 100 and the BT LE complaint device (or system wide). Inaddition, the white list can be erased, modified or updated at thispoint. Also, the BT LE mode can be set at this point (scanning mode vs.advertisement mode).

Once the content or software is installed the CPU turns off all othercomponents (e.g. the WLAN) 1190. Finally, the first BT LE compliantdevice turns off the CPU in a similar manner as it turned on the CPU1195 or the CPU turns itself off.

These teachings are not limited to supply chain operations, and theexamples provided in FIGS. 5 and 6 are not meant to be limitations butto provide clarity of the principles detailed herein by utilizingspecific examples. Other possible uses for these teachings include assettracking, automated wireless inventory or to allow positioning of theelectronic device 200 using high accuracy indoor positioning (HAIP) orsome other indoor or local positioning technology using BT LE, BT, WLANor similar technology.

With respect to asset tracking, one exemplary embodiment of theseteachings involves an automated wireless flashing inquiry event toobtain inventory of the devices. Inventory could include the currentversions of software and firmware on each device, destinations andstorage location within factory or warehouse.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the EDM 200 can further include a low powerclock (not shown) coupled to the controller 240 and can accessadditional control ports (not shown) on the controller. This furtherembodiment would be configured to wake up (power on) the relevant partsof the device at predefined times (e.g. twice a day, once a day, onceevery two days, once a week, depending on the desired shelf-life of thefeature). Once the device is powered on it connects to a predefined overthe air server via a predetermined broadband radio and a wirelessflashing inquiry event can occur. Prior to waking up the device eachdevice would check the energy level of its power source and ifsufficient it would respond to the wireless flashing inquiry event. Ifadequate power is available the device response to an inquiry (e.g.informs the inquirer of its location, current software or firmwareversion or other information). After the data is transmitted and placedin a database, the device returns back to the mode where the clock willagain wake up the electronic device at predetermined times. Analternative embodiment of this particular aspect of the invention couldbe implemented with a BT radio instead of a BT LE radio. For example asshown in FIG. 9, BT radio could be accessed via transceiver 945 togetherwith a clock (not shown) couple to MCU 960 with various predeterminedtime entries saved in memory 950 (not shown).

FIG. 14 provides an illustration of yet another embodiment of theseteachings. In FIG. 14, an electronic device is configured to includenear field communication functionality 1400 to receive wireless flashingfrom a near field interrogator 1400A. As shown in EDM 1400, a NFC unit1410 is coupled to a regulator 1425 which is further coupled to battery1420 and MCU 1440. In a similar fashion, as discussed above with respectto BT LE embodiment of FIG. 3, a signal is received in NFC unit 1410from NFC interrogator 1400A. The NFC interrogator 1400A operates at adistance of 4 cm or less but can operate at distances as great as up to20 cm and at 13.56 MHz. In one particular embodiment of the presentinvention, NFC interrogator 1400A and NFC unit 1410 include ISO/IEC18000-3 air interface and at each transmit and receive data at ratesranging from 106 kbit/s to 424 kbit/s. Furthermore, NFC unit 1410 andNFC interrogator 1400A can employ two different coding methods totransfer data. For example, if an active device transfers data at 106kbit/s, a modified Miller coding with 100% modulation can be used. Inall other cases Manchester coding can be used with a modulation ratio of10%. The decoded signal can provide a measure of authentication bycomparing know device IMEI or MAC address (or other identifier) to data1435 in memory 1430. Should the address be found in memory 1430, switch1460 can be engaged to emulate a power on state of the device. In otherwords, emulating power key 1465 coupled to the PowerOnx pin of EPM 1490.Further instructions can be executed to power on WLAN 1470 to engage insoftware/firmware updates or to receive content via transceiver 1475.

An additional embodiment of the present invention include a wirelesscharging unit 1522 for receiving a remote energy charge from a wirelesscharger 1500A, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of theseteachings. As shown in FIG. 15, an EDM 1500 includes a wireless chargingunit 1522 configured to charge battery 1520 based upon data recorded andmaintained in memory 1530 by MCU 1540. For example, data would berecorded in memory with respect to battery's state of charge (SOC) andvarious thresholds setting such as minimum and maximum charge dependingon the type of battery in use. In operating the wireless charging unit1522 would together with regulator 1525 maintain a specific charginglevel of battery 1520 (e.g. avoid overcharging). Wireless charger 1500Acould be activated independently or in conjunction with a wirelesscharging system as discussed below with respect to FIG. 16. Wirelesscharger 1500A can be an inductive wireless charger or longer distancecharger which would include resonant loops (magnetoresonant charger), ora low power RF charger for powering on EDM 1500.

Referring now to FIG. 16 a system of wirelessly charging an electronicdevice 2 is illustrated. A shown in FIG. 16, an electronic device 2 isinside sales packing 1. Electronic device 2 could be inserted insideboxes which are even further buried deep inside a pallet in a remotearea of a warehouse. According to one exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the one or more of the above described methods ofwirelessly flashing an electronic device and wireless charging can occurat the same time. In other word, (optionally) simultaneously deploying awireless flashing event by a wireless flashing initiator 100 and deployan energy charge by a wireless charger 1500A to electronic device 2.Although, FIG. 16 illustrates wireless charger 1500A and wirelessflashing initiator 100 as two separate devices they can be combined intoone device.

To initiate the above dual system, an electronic device 2 (in a salespackage) is placed in proximity of wireless charger 1500A. Wirelesscharger 1500A can be a docking station or a handheld wand or the likewhich can be beamed or focused upon electronic device 2. The beaming orfocusing on the device could in one embodiment cause the device toreceive a signal which would in turn initiate powering on of thecircuits that are essential for wireless flashing/software transfer asdescribed above. In other words, the devices could in one extreme beequipped with an uncharged battery and no security implement to preventaccess. This would occur in the factory or warehouse where less securitywould be needed. In this embodiment, the charging of the battery couldtrigger the turning on of the device. Software previously loaded on thedevice would thereafter automatically (based upon this triggering eventof receiving power) turn on various security measures such as the firstand second level security discussed above and possibly additionalparameters discussed in some of the above embodiments (e.g. switch BT LEmodes from scanning to advertising states).

Alternatively, wireless charger 1500A could provide power needed tocarry out any of the wireless flashing events discussed above in thevarious embodiment of the present invention. In other words, adding acharge to the battery to avoid draining the battery during the wirelessflashing event. This could occur either before, after or simultaneouslyto a wireless flashing event.

The above teachings are generally summarized at the flow diagram of FIG.17. At 1701 the electronic device receives a wireless signal forupdating software/firmware/content, and this signal is received in lowpower (first) circuitry of the device. Above this was characterized asthe trigger, and it may be a radio signal (BT, NFC, etc) or audio,infrared, timer, or even a wireless charging signal. A first levelsecurity check is performed at 1702, such as checking the IMEI or MACaddress against a whitelist. There may be additional security checksperformed one after the other which are each conditional on satisfyingthe immediately preceding security check as detailed above, and eachsecurity check may be more complex to assure serially higher levels ofsecurity. Conditional on passing that one or more security check(s),some other (second) radio circuitry of the device, or even the wholedevice, is powered up at block 1703. This second circuitry is the meansby which the electronic device wirelessly receives its software and/orfirmware update or data content at block 1704. Once complete, includingforward error control checks on the installed software/firmware/content,the device autonomously switches off at least the second circuitry atblock 1705, and it may switch off completely.

In this manner the system wakes-up the mobile device for flashing thefirmware, delivering and installing software and/or storing content,which as detailed above is quite useful at least when the device is inits retail packaging and in transit between the manufacturing facilityand the end retail customer not least for enabling the manufactureddevice to be put into the supply/distribution chain earlier withoutrisking the need for manual intervention to install updates or contentthat may become valid only after the device has left the factory. Anadded benefit is that these teachings can be used to installcustomer-personalized data onto devices at the point of sale without theneed for retail associates to even open the sales box. For example, suchcustomer-personalized data or personalization content may includepictures, applications, contact information, calendar entries,historical short messages/emails, user settings, and the like which aretransferred from the purchaser's old mobile terminal to while the newterminal is still in its sealed retail packaging. From a manufacturingperspective this also allows the factory to install for each model of agiven device only a single base software platform, which can then beupdated for local, regional or national markets as they enter thosemarkets.

The low power (first) circuitry of the device in effects acts as a“wireless gate keeper” that wakes up the more power demanding parts ofthe mobile device and possibly also performs the first level securitycheck. Multiple steps and levels of security checks also ensure lowpower consumption for the packaged electronic device to assure asufficient shelf life in the standby mode as well as a guarantee ofsecurity in the product delivered to the end retail user. The secondcircuitry can be a WLAN radio or some other broadband radio fortransferring the data to the device, which can be done using existingfirmware over-the-air routines which conventionally deliverdata/software/content to devices over cellular links and only afterthose devices have been purchased by the end user. The low powercircuitry for waking up other more power-intensive portions of thedevice may be based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BT LE), Near FieldCommunication (NFC), wireless recharging loop, a local computer readablememory (see for example co-owned U.S. Patent Publication 2010/0318712 A1by Sergey Boldyrev et al), audio, infrared, or a timer.

The above multitude of embodiments can be further extended such that thedevice is configured to respond to multiple different wake-up methods inseries, or in parallel, or in loops. One advantage of this is that,during the supply/distribution logistical chain from manufacturingfacility to end user the need for, and/or the likelihood and nature ofupdates may vary. Configuring the electronic device to respond to morethan one wake-up instance, whether these wake-up instances are in series(changing the update method during the logistics chain), in parallel(using several update methods at the same time) or in loop (returning toan earlier update method) enables an added improvement inenergy-efficiency/battery life, security, and in just how flexible thesetechniques can be.

FIG. 18 is a process flow diagram illustrating in general terms thisaspect of these teachings, and FIGS. 19A-E provide various differentspecific but non-limiting implementations of FIG. 18. The first twoblocks are as described for FIG. 17, but the follow on step afterpassing the first security check at block 1702 is then block 1800 whereanother low power method, different from that at block 1701, is used todetect an update. It is also possible that the low-power wakeup methodsin blocks 1701 and 1800 use the same technology but with differentcharacteristics. For example, for enhanced security the device may bewoken up first with BT LE in a warehouse and then again with BT LE in aretail shop. In this case the earlier wake up may act as an enablingauthorization for the later retail shop flashing. The low-power wake-upmethod used in block 1701 is used to start another low-power wake-upmethod in block 1800 of a different technology; one may be BT and theother may be a wireless charging signal. 1801A and 1802A are similar to1701 and 1702 but using a different implementation of the sameprinciple, thus increasing security and as will be seen for FIGS. 19Cand D increasing flexibility also. Blocks 1704 and 1705 are similar tothose described for FIG. 17, but note the addition in FIG. 18 of block1803A. This is a loop back to an earlier stage, which is particularlyvaluable if the device is enabled to awaken multiple times to check forsome update while in the logistics chain but perhaps there is no updateto download during one of those wake-up instances.

FIG. 18 shows the two different wake-up methods in series, and FIG. 19Aillustrates a specific example in which blocks 1701 and 1702 and 1800 ofFIG. 18 are implemented as the timer 1901 of FIG. 19A and blocks 1801Aand 1802A and 1703 are implemented as the BT LE radio 1902 of FIG. 19A.Then the remaining update procedure 1910 of FIG. 19A represents blocks1704 and 1705 of FIG. 18. As a specific clarifying example of theadvantage of FIG. 19A, consider that at the factory a timer based wakeup1901 is used. The device is made to start to use the BT LE based system1902 after a time period when the device can be estimated to be in awarehouse with wireless flashing capability. Once the timer 1901activates the BT LE based flashing 1902, the device starts to scan (orin another configuration transmit) BT LE signals at 1902 and it ispossible to connect remotely to the device and update it. This willallow much reduced energy consumption since a simple timer circuitry1901 can be made much more energy efficient than BT LE operations 1902.This implementation also increases security, in that the timer 1901dictates when the device starts to scan for external BT LE signals 1902,making it less likely that an unauthorized third party can access thedevices during shipping from the factory to the end retail destination.

FIG. 19B is a similar example with a NFC radio wake-up method 1904 inplace of the time 1901 of FIG. 19A. Following a similar example asimmediately above, in the case of FIG. 19B the device does not haveanything active, neither timer nor BT LE radio running, when it leavesthe factory. At some warehouse for example along the logistics chain thesales box is taken to a NFC reader that powers a circuitry 1904 thatwakes up the BT LE 1902. After this, the BT LE starts to scan asdescribed in more detail above. The FIG. 19B implementation for thisexample eliminates the energy consumption totally between the factoryand the warehouse. This also improves security since both a properlyconfigured NFC 1904 and BT LE radio 1902 is needed to wake-up thedevice. Of course FIGS. 19A-B are non-limiting examples; a wirelessrecharging device or RFID technology (for example, scanning for anelectronic product code EPC which is an open standard developed forlogistics purposes and freely available for download) or any of theother methods above can be used in place of the NFC radio 1904. In thecase of an RFID, one implementation may have an EPC tag embedded intothe phone hardware and used to wake-up the BT LE functionality by usingan EPC writer embodying the wireless flashing initiator 200 which wasdetailed above.

In this regard, in a variation on the series deployment an earlier stagecan change or modify the parameters of the technology used in the nextstage. For example, the NFC radio 1904 of FIG. 19B may receive externalsignals that impact the operation parameters or mode of the BT LEwake-up method at 1902 of FIG. 19B once that BT LE is activated. Suchparameters may consist of some desired operating mode (scanning,advertising, etc as detailed above), security keys, and the like.

FIG. 19C is an example of using two different wake-upmethods/technologies in parallel, BT LE 1902 and a wireless rechargingloop 1906 in this example. Both are needed to allow the update. In oneexample of this, the factory sets the device to look for a BT LE signal.To allow a flashing of firmware, the device needs to get a valid BT LEwake-up (first trigger) as well as a proper signal from wirelessrecharge loop (second or additional trigger) in order to wake up thedevice. This will enhance the security since two separate transmittersusing different technology are needed with their individual securityfeatures, the BT signal/first trigger signal is not recognized by thewireless recharge loop and the second trigger/wireless recharge signalis not recognized by the BT LE radio. By including the recharging loopas one of these two parallel wake-up methods it is also possible toensure the device will be powered properly during the update, even ifthe battery is low. The wireless recharge link (for example, Qi is onestandardized wireless recharge technology that could be implemented)provides a control link from the phone to the charger. In this contextthe control link can be also used to indicate to the writer if thedevice under wireless flashing is in the sales package with or without abattery. In the latter case, the sales package can then be positionedaccordingly to ensure continuous power transfer during the update,meaning for example that the package cannot be moved from a retailseller's storeroom to the retail sales floor during the update. But thiscan restriction can be automatically indicated by the writer 200 userinterface to the person who is doing the update.

In other embodiments there may be two or more different wake-up methodsconfigured in parallel and only one is enough to advance the process tothe software/firmware/data download stage (or security check, whicheveris next after the parallel wake-up methods). For example, if wesubstitute a NFC radio 1904 for the wireless recharge loop 1906 of FIG.19C, the next stage of FIG. 19C is the update stage 1910 which may beentered with either the BT LE signal 1902 or with an NFC signal,whichever comes first. This is especially useful in situations where itis not exactly known what kind of wake-up method is available, forexample in a retail shop.

FIG. 19D provides an example of combined serial and parallel wake-upmethods. Consider an example in which a timer 1901 is deployed at themanufacturing facility such that after some suitable period of time itsexpiration initializes both BT LE 1902 and wireless recharge loopmethods 1906. Then the device is updated 1910 by applying both the BT LEand wireless recharge loop signals in parallel.

Just as FIG. 19D combines principles set forth at FIGS. 19A and 19C,other combinations are within these teachings, not limited to two-stagewake-up; any number of stages in series and/or parallel is possible. Forexample, NFC can be used to start a timer which in turn starts a BT LEscan or advertising. Additionally, various combinations of wake-upmethods in series and parallel are possible beyond those specificexamples set forth above. It should be also understood that thedifferent stages may use the same technology. For example, the firstwake-up method may be timer, the second and the third stage are based onBT LE while the fourth is again a timer based method. Different (and insome cases consecutive) stages may also employ different modes(features, functions or versions) of the same radio standard (or radiochip or radio technology), such as Bluetooth low energy mode (Bluetooth4.0) for monitoring the trigger signal and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR (or 3.0 HS)mode for the software/firmware/content transfer. These may be differentmodes of the same radio chip.

Another variation on the principles set forth with FIGS. 18 and 19A-D isa looped arrangement as shown by example at FIG. 19E. In this case, theoverall process returns to an earlier stage based on some criteria. Forexample, when the device receives a suitable NFC signal 1904, itwakes-up the BT LE 1902 such as was described above for FIG. 19B.However, in the FIG. 19E example there is also a timer 1901 which isinitiated. If the device is not receiving an update within some timeperiod, the timer 1901 expires and returns the device to an earlierstage, which in the FIG. 19E example is to switch off its BT LE radio1902 and await a new suitable NFC signal 1904. More generally, anearlier stage (NFC 1904 in this case) is entered if no suitable updateis received with a given time period. Such a process may also change theoperational parameters and/or mode of the method. This might be done byupdating the parameters as detailed above, for example for FIG. 19E thenext time that the BT LE stage 1902 is entered, the BT mode is changedfrom scanning mode to advertising mode.

In a more specific embodiment of the principles set forth at FIG. 19E,the criteria for returning to some earlier stage may also be some signalfrom the current stage (a BT LE signal such as a Cancel—command for FIG.19E) that commands the device backwards in the process. Or for addedredundancy a combination of multiple different signals and timers may benecessary to revert to an earlier stage.

In one aspect of these teachings there is a method, and anapparatus/electronic device having at least one processor and a programstored on a memory, in which the program when executed causes theelectronic device to power up at least second circuitry of theelectronic device in response to wirelessly receiving a trigger signalat first circuitry of an electronic device. In the above examples thefirst circuitry was detailed by example as a radio receiver forBluetooth, Zigbee, ANT™, near field communications, impulse-ultrawideband UWB (see co-owned U.S. Patent Publication 2010/0318712referenced above) or radio frequency identification signals; or areceiver of wireless audio or infrared, or circuitry for wirelesslyreceiving battery recharging signals. The electronic device thenwirelessly receives a second signal at the powered up second circuitry.Specifically, the second signal is characterized by being consistentwith a radio access technology for which the trigger signal isincompatible.

Above was discussed Bluetooth low energy BT LE. This radio protocol isslightly different from traditional (classic) Bluetooth even though ituses the same frequency range (2402-2480 MHz) as traditional Bluetoothnetworks. Specifically, in current iterations BT LE uses 40 channelsthat are 2 MHz apart whereas in traditional Bluetooth 79 channels areused with a 1 MHz channel raster. Additionally, BT LE uses a differentfrequency hopping scheme than traditional Bluetooth. In this regardthen, BT LE signals are incompatible with traditional Bluetooth radioaccess technology, even though the BT LE and the traditional BluetoothRF chains might be embodied on the same microchip and those two RFchains may even share some of the same hardware. The traditionalBluetooth RF chain cannot recognize the BT LE signal when thetraditional Bluetooth RF chain is set with the traditional Bluetooth(software-defined) parameters. So in one exemplary embodiment thetrigger signal can be BT LE and the software/firmware/content update canbe made via the traditional Bluetooth radio access technology for whichthe BT LE trigger signal is incompatible.

Also in some of the above embodiment there was an initial step of atimer expiring, upon which the electronic device autonomously powered upits low power receiver for receiving the trigger signal.

Certain of the above embodiments also added a security feature, a firstsecurity check is performed in response to receiving the trigger signaland powering up of at least the second circuitry of the electronicdevice is conditional on passing the first security check. Form multiplesecurity levels then the device performs a second security check inresponse to wirelessly receiving an additional signal at the firstcircuitry of the electronic device, and this second security check isconditional on passing the first security check. In this case thepowering up of at least the second circuitry of the electronic device isconditional on passing both the first and the second security checks.

Other embodiments had two different wake-up methods in parallel in whichboth needed to be performed in order to setup the device for thesoftware/firmware update or for download of some other type of data suchas music or games or personalization content. In this case the secondcircuitry of the electronic device is powered up in response toreceiving the trigger signal at the first circuitry and an additionaltrigger signal at third circuitry of the electronic device. The firstand the third circuitry may be any of the wireless receivers notedabove, and additionally the third circuitry may be a timer. The firstand third circuitries are distinct in that the third circuitry is notresponsive to the first-said trigger signal and the first circuitry isnot responsive to the additional trigger signal.

Respecting only the first and second circuitry, the first circuitry ischaracterized as operating at a lower power than the second circuitry,and the second circuitry comprises a broadband radio. In the examplesabove the second signal was given by example as a software update and/ora firmware update and/or a content update. Now in some embodiments ifthe software update and/or firmware update and/or content update is notfully received or not properly loaded after being received, at least thesecond circuitry of the electronic device is powered down and if asecurity check was done it is re-executed before the device againattempts to receive the software and/or firmware and/or content update.As noted by various examples above, such content may becustomer-personalized data from the purchaser's old mobile terminal orsome other personalization content.

These teachings were presented as quite advantageous for a portableelectronic device such as a mobile terminal/user equipment disposedwithin packaging for retail sale.

The various blocks shown in FIGS. 7, 11, 12A-12D, 17, 18 and 19A-E maybe viewed as method steps, and/or as operations that result fromoperation of computer program code, and/or as a plurality of coupledlogic circuit elements constructed to carry out the associatedfunction(s).

In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented inhardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combinationthereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, whileother aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may beexecuted by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device,although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects ofthe exemplary embodiments of this invention may be illustrated anddescribed as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorialrepresentation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus,systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in,as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purposecircuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or othercomputing devices, or some combination thereof.

It should thus be appreciated that at least some aspects of theexemplary embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in variouscomponents such as integrated circuit chips and modules, and that theexemplary embodiments of this invention may be realized in an apparatusthat is embodied as an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit, orcircuits, may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) forembodying at least one or more of a data processor or data processors, adigital signal processor or processors, baseband circuitry and radiofrequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordancewith the exemplary embodiments of this invention.

Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplaryembodiments of this invention may become apparent to those skilled inthe relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and allmodifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting andexemplary embodiments of this invention.

The various names used for the described parameters (e.g. advertisingstate, advertising event, flashing event, advertising packet data (PDU),scanWindow, Scan Interval, T_advEvent etc.) are not intended to belimiting in any respect, as these parameters may be identified by anysuitable names. Further, the formulas and expressions that use thesevarious parameters may differ from those expressly disclosed herein.Further, the various names assigned to different channels (e.g.advertising channel, channel index etc.) are not intended to be limitingin any respect, as these various channels may be identified by anysuitable names.

Furthermore, some of the features of the various non-limiting andexemplary embodiments of this invention may be used to advantage withoutthe corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoingdescription should be considered as merely illustrative of theprinciples, teachings and exemplary embodiments of this invention, andnot in limitation thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: in response to wirelesslyreceiving a trigger signal at first circuitry of a portable electronicdevice, where the first circuitry is in a housing of the portableelectronic device, performing a first security check by the firstcircuitry regarding the trigger signal with the first circuitry beingpowered by a battery of the portable electronic device; based uponinresponse to the trigger signal passing the first security check,powering up at least second circuitry of the portable electronic devicewith use of the battery of the portable electronic device, where thesecond circuitry is in the same housing of the portable electronicdevice, and where the second circuitry is not powered up until the firstcircuitry determines that the trigger signal has passed the firstsecurity check; wirelessly receiving a second signal at the powered upsecond circuitry; performing a second security check regarding thesecond signal received by the second circuitry; and in response todetermining that the second signal has passed the second security check,powering up third circuitry of the portable electronic device andwireless flashing of the portable electronic device based at leastpartially upon a third signal received by the portable electronicdevice, where the wireless flashing comprises use of a memory of theportable electronic device; wherein the second signal is according to aradio access technology for which the trigger signal is incompatible,where the first circuitry operates at a lower power point than thesecond circuitry, where power of the battery is conserved by notpowering up the second circuitry until after the first circuitry hasdetermined that the trigger signal has passed the first security check.2. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising aninitial step of: upon expiration of a timer, the portable electronicdevice autonomously powering up the first circuitry which comprises alow power receiver for receiving the trigger signal.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, in which the second circuitry is not responsive tothe said trigger signal and the first circuitry is not responsive to thesecond signal.
 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the firstcircuitry is characterized as operating at a lower power than the secondcircuitry which comprises a broadband radio.
 5. The method according toclaim 1, in which the third signal is at least one of a software updateand a firmware update and a content update.
 6. The method according toclaim 5, in which, when the software update and/or firmware updateand/or the content update is not fully received or not properly loadedafter being received, the method comprises: powering down at least thesecond circuitry of the portable electronic device; and re-executing atleast one of the security checks before again attempting to receive thesaid at least one of the software update and the firmware update and thecontent update.
 7. The method according to claim 1, in which the firstcircuitry comprises at least one of: a radio receiver for Bluetooth,near field communications, Zigbee, ANT™, impulse-ultra impulse-extrawideband, or radio frequency identification signals; a timer; or areceiver of wireless audio or infrared; and circuitry for wirelesslyreceiving battery recharging signals.
 8. The method according to claim1, in which the portable electronic device comprises a user equipmentand the method is executed while the user equipment is disposed withinpackaging for retail sale of the user equipment.
 9. The method accordingto claim 1, the wireless flashing accomplishes rebooting of the portableelectronic device and one or more of: data transfer into the memory ofthe portable electronic device; data removal from the memory of theportable electronic device; installation or updating in the portableelectronic device of software; installation or updating in the portableelectronic device of firmware.
 10. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: performing a third security check in response towirelessly receiving an additional signal at the first circuitry of theportable electronic device, where powering up at least the secondcircuitry of the portable electronic device is conditional on passingboth the first and the third security checks.
 11. An apparatus,comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitorymemory storing computer program code, in which the memory and computerprogram code are configured with the processor to cause the apparatus atleast to perform: in response to wirelessly receiving a trigger signalat first circuitry of the apparatus, where the apparatus is a portableelectronic device, where the first circuitry is in a housing of theportable electronic device, performing a first security check by thefirst circuitry regarding the trigger signal with the first circuitrybeing powered by a battery of the apparatus; based uponin response tothe trigger signal passing the first security check, powering up atleast second circuitry of the apparatus with use of the battery of theportable electronic device, and where the second circuitry is in thesame housing of the portable electronic device, and where the secondcircuitry is not powered up until the first circuitry determines thatthe trigger signal has passed the first security check; wirelesslyreceiving a second signal at the powered up second circuitry; performinga second security check regarding the second signal received by thesecond circuitry; and in response to determining that the second signalhas passed the second security check, powering up third circuitry of theportable electronic device and, wireless flashing of the apparatus basedat least partially upon a third signal received by the portableelectronic device, where the wireless flashing comprises use of thememory of the apparatus, wherein the second signal is according to aradio access technology for which the trigger signal is incompatible,where the first circuitry operates at a lower power than the secondcircuitry, where power of the battery is conserved by not powering upthe second circuitry until after the first circuitry has determined thatthe trigger signal has passed the first security check.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 11, in which the memory and computerprogram code are configured with the processor to cause the apparatus tofurther perform an initial step of: upon expiration of a timer,autonomously powering up a low power receiver of the first circuitry forreceiving the trigger signal.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 11,in which the memory and computer program code are configured with theprocessor to cause the apparatus to further perform: performing a thirdsecurity check in response to wirelessly receiving an additional signalat the first circuitry of the apparatus, where powering up at least thesecond circuitry of the apparatus is conditional on passing both thefirst and the third security checks.
 14. The apparatus according toclaim 11, in which the second circuitry is not responsive to the saidtrigger signal and the first circuitry is not responsive to the secondsignal.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 11, in which the firstcircuitry is characterized as operating at a lower power than the secondcircuitry which comprises a broadband radio.
 16. The apparatus accordingto claim 11, in which the third signal is at least one of a softwareupdate and a firmware update and a content update.
 17. The apparatusaccording to claim 16, in which if the software update and/or thefirmware update and/or the content update is not fully received or notproperly loaded after being received, the memory and computer programcode are configured with the processor to cause the apparatus to furtherperform: powering down at least the second circuitry of the apparatus;re-executing at least one of the security checks before again attemptingto receive the said at least one of the software update and the firmwareupdate and the content update.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 11,in which the first circuitry comprises one of: a radio receiver forBluetooth, near field communications, Zigbee, ANT™, impulse-ultrawideband, or radio frequency identification signals; a timer; or areceiver of wireless audio or infrared; and circuitry for wirelesslyreceiving battery recharging signals.
 19. The apparatus according toclaim 11, in which the memory and computer program code are configuredwith the processor to cause the apparatus to further perform rebootingof the portable electronic device and one or more of: data transfer intothe memory of the portable electronic device; data removal from thememory of the portable electronic device; installation or updating inthe portable electronic device of software; installation or updating inthe portable electronic device of firmware.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storing software program instructions, whichwhen executed by at least one data processor results in performance ofoperations that comprise: in response to wirelessly receiving a triggersignal at first circuitry of a portable electronic device, where thefirst circuitry is in a housing of the portable electronic device,performing a first security check by the first circuitry regarding thetrigger signal with the first circuitry being powered by a battery ofthe portable electronic device; based uponin response to the triggersignal passing the first security check, powering up at least secondcircuitry of the portable electronic device with use of the battery ofthe portable electronic device, where the second circuitry is in thesame housing of the portable electronic device, and where the secondcircuitry is not powered up until the first circuitry determines thatthe trigger signal has passed the first security check; wirelesslyreceiving a second signal at the powered up second circuitry; performinga second security check regarding the second signal received by thesecond circuitry; and in response to determining that the second signalhas passed the second security check, powering up third circuitry of theportable electronic device and wireless flashing of the portableelectronic device based at least partially upon a third signal receivedby the portable electronic device, where the wireless flashing comprisesuse of a memory of the portable electronic device; wherein the secondsignal is according to a radio access technology for which the triggersignal is incompatible, where the first circuitry operates at a lowerpower than the second circuitry, where power of the battery is conservedby not powering up the second circuitry until after the first circuitryhas determined that the trigger signal has passed the first securitycheck.
 21. A method comprising: in response to wirelessly receiving atleast two trigger signals from at least two sources at least twocircuitries of a portable electronic device, performing at least twosecurity checks by the at least two circuitries regarding the at leasttwo trigger signals from the at least two sources; in response to the atleast two trigger signals from the at least two sources passing the atleast two security checks, powering up the at least one other circuitryis not powered up until the at least two circuitries determine that theat least two trigger signals from the at least two sources have passedthe at least two security checks; wirelessly receiving one other signalat the powered up at least one other circuitry; performing at least oneother security check regarding the one other signal received by the atleast one other circuitry; and in response to determining that the othersignal has passed the at least one other security check, powering up atleast a memory circuitry of the portable electronic device configured towireless flash the portable electronic device.
 22. The method accordingto claim 21, the method further comprising an initial step of: uponexpiration of a timer, the portable electronic device autonomouslypowering up a first one of the at least two circuitries which comprisesa low power receiver for receiving a first one of the at least twotrigger signals.
 23. The method according to claim 21, in which a secondone of the at least two circuitries is not responsive to a first one ofthe at least two trigger signals, and where a first one of the at leasttwo circuitries is not responsive to a second one of the at least twotrigger signals.
 24. The method according to claim 21, in which a firstone of the at least two circuitries is characterized as operating at alower power in a second one of the at least two circuitries whichcomprises a broadband radio.
 25. The method according to claim 21, inwhich the one other signal is at least one of: a software update, afirmware update, and a content update.
 26. The method according to claim25, in which, when the software update and/or the firmware update and/orthe content update is not fully received or not properly loaded afterbeing received, the method comprises: powering down at least a secondone of the at least two circuitries of the portable electronic device;and re-executing at least one of the security checks before againattempting to receive the at least one software update, firmware update,and content update.
 27. The method according to claim 21, in which afirst one of the at least two circuitries comprises at least one of: aradio receiver for near field communications, impulse-ultra wideband orradio frequency identification signals; a timer; a receiver of wirelessaudio or infrared; or circuitry for wirelessly receiving batteryrecharging signals.
 28. The method according to claim 21, in which theportable electronic device comprises a user equipment and the method isexecuted while the user equipment is disposed within packaging forretail sale of the user equipment.
 29. The method according to claim 21where a first one of the at least two circuitries is powered by awireless charging and a second one of the at least two circuitries ispowered by a battery of the portable electronic device.
 30. The methodaccording to claim 29 where the wireless charging occurs before thesecond circuitry is powered by the battery.
 31. The method according toclaim 29 where the second one of the at least two circuitries is poweredby the battery before the first one of the at least two circuitries ispowered by the wireless charging.
 32. The method according to claim 21where the at least two security checks by the at least two circuitries,regarding the at least two trigger signals, occur at a same time. 33.The method according to claim 21 where the at least two security checksby the at least two circuitries, regarding the at least two triggersignals, occur one after the other.
 34. A method comprising: in responseto wirelessly receiving at least two different trigger signals from atleast two respective sources at two or more circuitries of a portableelectronic device which are at least partially different, performing atleast two security checks by the two or more circuitries regarding theat least two different trigger signals; in response to the at least twodifferent trigger signals passing the at least two security checks,powering up at least one other circuitry of the portable electronicdevice which is at least partially different from the other two or morecircuitries, where at least one other circuitry is not powered up untilafter the two or more circuitries determine that the at least twodifferent trigger signals from the at least two sources have passed theat least two security checks; after the at least one other circuitry hasbeen powered up, wirelessly receiving at least one other signal at theleast one other circuitry; performing at least one other security checkregarding the at least one other signal received by the at least oneother circuitry; and in response to determining that the at least oneother signal has passed the at least one other security check, poweringup at least a memory circuitry of the portable electronic device towirelessly flash the portable electronic device.
 35. The methodaccording to claim 34 further comprising an initial step of: uponexpiration of a timer, the portable electronic device autonomouslypowering up a first one of the two or more circuitries, where the firstcircuitry comprises a low power receiver for receiving a first one ofthe at least two different trigger signals.
 36. The method according toclaim 34, in which a second one of the two or more circuitries is notresponsive to a first one of the at least two different trigger signals,and where a first one of the two of more circuitries is not responsiveto a second one of the at least two different trigger signals.
 37. Themethod according to claim 34, in which a first one of two or morecircuitries is characterized as operating at a lower power than a secondone of the two or more circuitries which comprises a broadband radio.38. The method according to claim 34, in which the at least one othersignal is at least one of: a software update; a firmware update, and acontent update.
 39. The method according to claim 38, in which, when thesoftware update and/or the firmware update and/or the content update isnot fully received or not properly loaded after being received, themethod comprises: powering down at least a second one of the two or morecircuitries of the portable electronic device; and re-executing at leastone of the at least two security checks before again attempting toreceive the at least one software update, firmware update, and contentupdate.
 40. The method according to claim 34, in which a first one ofthe two or more circuitries comprises at least one of: a radio receiverfor near field communications, impulse-ultra wideband, or radiofrequency identification signals; a timer; a receiver of wireless audioor infrared; or circuitry for wirelessly receiving battery rechargingsignals.
 41. The method according to claim 34, in which the portableelectronic device comprises a user equipment, and where the method isexecuted while the user equipment is disposed within packaging forretail sale of the user equipment.
 42. The method according to claim 34where a first one of the at least two security checks is performed on afirst one of the at least two different trigger signals by a first oneof the two or more circuitries, and where a second one of the at leasttwo security checks is performed on a second one of the at least twodifferent trigger signals by a second one of the two or morecircuitries, where the second circuitry is not powered up and the secondsecurity check is not performed unless the first trigger signal passesthe first security check.